Early Outcomes of Kidney Transplantation When Comparing Waist-to-Hip Ratio vs. Body Mass Index.

R. Patankar,¹ A. Gamilla-Crudo,¹ K. Gugliuzza,² O. Salim,³ S. Shah,¹ F. Ikram,⁴ M. Mujtaba.¹

¹Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX
²Department of Surgery, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX
³Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX
⁴University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX

Meeting: 2017 American Transplant Congress

Abstract number: C162

Keywords: Graft function, Infection, Kidney transplantation, Length of stay

Session Information

Session Name: Poster Session C: Kidney Complications III

Session Type: Poster Session

Date: Monday, May 1, 2017

Session Time: 6:00pm-7:00pm

Presentation Time: 6:00pm-7:00pm

Location: Hall D1

Introduction – High body mass index (BMI) is a concern for kidney transplantation due to wound infections and other surgical complications. BMI has been used as a factor to determine suitability of patients for kidney transplantation, however, BMI has limitations as it does not take into account body fat distribution (central obesity vs peripheral obesity). At our institution , BMI along with Waist-to-Hip ratios (WHR) are obtained at time of transplant candidate selection. The objective of our study was to determine if WHR correlates with wound infections, delayed graft function (DGF), length of stay and readmission rates better than BMI.

Methodology – We did a retrospective analysis of 134 kidney transplant patients and evaluated for a correlation between BMI and WHR with extended length of stay (defined as 6 or more hospital admission days post-transplant), DGF, surgical wound infection and readmissions rates both within 30 days of transplant. Our cohort had 134 total patients with age ranging from 20 – 72 years. There were 82 males and 52 females. Mean BMI was 28.9 (range 20 – 32.8) and mean WHR was 0.93 (range 0.74 – 1.13). A Pearson correlation analysis was performed and the following correlations were obtained. BMI vs wound infection (p = 0.11), BMI vs DGF (p = 0.10), BMI vs readmission rate (p = 0.61), BMI vs length of stay (p = 0.36), WHR vs wound infection (p = 0.05), WHR vs DGF (p = 0.03), WHR vs readmission rate (p = 0.29) and WHR vs length of stay (p = 0.46). A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Conclusion- It appears that a higher WHR correlates more strongly with DGF and wound infection as compared to BMI. These results show that patients should not be denied a transplant based solely on BMI. Additional information on WHR may help make a better decision on patient selection. Further collaborative efforts and research are needed to fully elucidate the relationship between BMI and WHR with respect to transplant outcomes.

CITATION INFORMATION: Patankar R, Gamilla-Crudo A, Gugliuzza K, Salim O, Shah S, Ikram F, Mujtaba M. Early Outcomes of Kidney Transplantation When Comparing Waist-to-Hip Ratio vs. Body Mass Index. Am J Transplant. 2017;17 (suppl 3).

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Patankar R, Gamilla-Crudo A, Gugliuzza K, Salim O, Shah S, Ikram F, Mujtaba M. Early Outcomes of Kidney Transplantation When Comparing Waist-to-Hip Ratio vs. Body Mass Index. [abstract]. Am J Transplant. 2017; 17 (suppl 3). https://atcmeetingabstracts.com/abstract/early-outcomes-of-kidney-transplantation-when-comparing-waist-to-hip-ratio-vs-body-mass-index/. Accessed May 15, 2025.

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